Likely Members of Playoff Selection Committee Leaked

Bob Levey/Getty ImagesDoes this look like the man with a part in deciding who plays for the national championship?

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After months of speculation, it seems like we’ve finally received our first hard lead on who exactly will be making up the selection committee for the inaugural College Football Playoff set to begin in 2014.

Update: Wednesday, Oct. 9 - 2:21 p.m. ET

According to ESPN, the committee will be finalized with 13 members and will be officially announced next Wednesday:

The College Football Playoff's 13-member selection committee will be officially announced next Wednesday in Dallas, sources told ESPN's Brett McMurphy.

Update: Saturday, Oct. 5 - 6:50 p.m. ET

ESPN has reported that the committee list is currently up to 13 with only one or two more expected to be added:

Former Nebraska athletic director and coach Tom Osborne and Tyrone Willingham, the former football coach at Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington, will also serve on the committee, sources said Saturday.

In addition, former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, athletic directors Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin), Jeff Long (Arkansas), Oliver Luck (West Virginia) and Dan Radakovich (Clemson), Steve Wieberg, a longtime former sportswriter at USA Today, and former NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt have been chosen to be on the committee, sources told ESPN.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, the former Air Force Academy superintendent, will be on the committee as well, sources said...

"We're still working on one or two more," a source said Friday.

Update: Saturday, Oct. 5 - 5:35 p.m. ET

The Lincoln Journal Star's Brian Christopherson reveals that a Cornhusker legend and one of the greatest college football coaches will be joining the party:

The Associated Press reports about the inclusion of what could be the biggest name to join the committee:

A person with direct knowledge of the process tells The Associated Press that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to be part of the selection committee that will pick the teams for the College Football Playoff next year.

The person also said a former Air Force Academy superintendent and a former NCAA executive who worked with the basketball tournament, are expected to be part of the new 12-to-18 member football panel.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the selection process is still ongoing.

Update: Friday, Oct. 4 - 10:47 a.m. ET

Sources have informed ESPN of what they believe to be six likely members of the selection committee:

Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese along with athletic directors Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin), Pat Haden (USC), Jeff Long (Arkansas), Oliver Luck (West Virginia) and Dan Radakovich (Clemson) have been chosen to be on the College Football Playoff selection committee, sources told ESPN.

Update: Thursday, Oct. 3 - 5:32 p.m. ET

CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd sheds light on two more potential candidates for the committee:

A source said Haden will be the Pac-12 representative and Alvarez will be the rep from the Big Ten. CBSSports.com's Jeremy Fowler reported Wednesday that West Virginia AD Oliver Luck is expected to be the Big 12 representative.

“Pat is the perfect representative for [the Pac-12],” the source said. “He's an icon of the Pac-12 – a scholar, a former athlete.”

Alvarez told Madison.com in August that “strong signals” were sent to College Football Playoff/BCS executive director Bill Hancock that he'd be interested.

--END OF UPDATE--

According to CBS Sports’ Jeremy Fowler, both West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich are targets to be named to the committee:

West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck is expected to be named to the selection committee for the College Football Playoff set to begin in 2014, CBSSports.com has learned…

A well-placed ACC source said Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich is “the leader in the clubhouse” to represent the ACC on the committee.

While both Luck and Radakovich declined to comment on the rumors, Playoff executive director Bill Hancock was happy to offer his take:

There’s still some vetting to be done. We need to know about all these people. We know them, you know them, but we need to know everything we can about them. We don’t want to make any mistakes, and we won’t. These are people of high integrity.

The group will be made up of around 12 to 18 members. Sitting athletic directors from each of the so-called power conferences—ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC—are expected to be included.

The full selection committee is likely to be unveiled sometime in early December.

Luck has been with West Virginia since 2010. Prior to his arrival, he built up quite the portfolio for himself, serving as CEO of NFL Europe, president of the Houston Dynamo (MLS) and CEO of the Houston Sports Authority over the years.

However, Luck is more commonly known as a former NFL quarterback and the father of Indianapolis Colts gunslinger Andrew Luck.

Radakovich has been with Clemson since last October. He had previously served as the athletic director of Georgia Tech from 2006-12.

The makeup of the committee is expected to be on the agenda for the upcoming BCS management committee meeting scheduled on Nov. 11.

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